The Cradle of War
by Sigart
Summary: Europe was not a very nice place to live and those who have survived will always, always carry the scent of blood. Characters listed are only characters of the latest chapter.
1. In the Cradle

**Important note!** I will change the character settings depending on who's got the main role in the newest chapter. I will continue this at the very least until the story has stabilized... whenever that happens.

Oh, and this chapter is unbetaed. The rest are betaed by the ever-wonderful, ever-amazing, beautiful, but Swedish, Yura-chan :D

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><p>Europe was... not a good place to stay in. Not for the pathetic humans, crawling, walking, running, striding, and not for the nations doing a fair impression of the same. Maybe it was actually worse for the nations. Some nations? All nations? Regardless, Europe was not nice. The Dark Ages were called dark for a reason; the land was scoured. Invasion upon invasion, sickness, hunger, <em>plague<em>. The weak perished in a blaze of fire and death, the stupid in incredibly less glorified ways, pawning off lands until they had nothing left. Disappearing with barely a footnote in the pages of history, swallowed by other countries, overtaken, sometimes broken in as territories in the most brutal way possible, just to make sure there would be no rebellion later. It continued long after the dark age ended, well into modern times. Well into the age of enlightenment.

Alliances forged and broken in a matter of years or centuries. For the extent of one war or until one royal line died out or until one king died. Or simply until other, more powerful allies offered themselves.

Ages came and went, countries shrank and grew once more, disappeared forever, tore themselves away from older countries. And always, unrest, war, sickness, hunger, usually in that order, but not always and the eternal, infernal _fear_ that next, you were the one presented on the proverbial chopping block.

In the beginning, it had been mostly internal strife as the Roman Empire retreated, shrinking slowly, then not so slowly. First the Byzantine Empire emerged, then France, Spain, the rest of Europe barely more than a mass of _tribes_, with no unity, no chance to stand against an actual, unified, army, when suddenly, tribes that _could_ emerged from the north. The Vikings pillaged, burned and raped, conquered and then left towns razed to the ground or near enough so. And they had no respect for anything except death.

When a tall blond with wild hair blowing haphazardly in the win emerged in front of a raven banner, people soon learned to flee. The Vikings, finding their adversaries gone, thought up games, killing each other when they found their prey gone or too weak to satiate their blood lust.

The Vikings soon retreated, after only 300 years of spreading terror, trade and craftsmanship all over Europe, though England did not escape conquest again, only just tasting freedom before conquered by Normans, though he escaped the influence of the Habsburg Empire, even after the Swiss-Austrian Habsburgs married themselves to Spain's crown. That lasted at least 500 years. 700 if you counted the Habsburg-Lorraine (and one usually did), the Austrian Empire and lastly Austria-Hungary.

Spain, not a part of Habsburg until his king made it so in 1515, went from lover to conqueror and back more times than he could count. Conquered Southern Italy, fought France and England and Portugal and Denmark and Austria and Ottoman, laughing madly. Lost almost his entire territory and reconquered it

The Holy Roman Empire rose and fell, suffering through the Viking ages yet surviving until enlightenment became predominant in Europe, strife and zeal following him everywhere. Crusades North and South scouring the surface of the Earth for Pagans; non-believers, superstitious, _unholy_, and fair prey.

The Grand Duchy of Lithuania, expanding and expanding and expanding, swallowing both the fledgling Belarus and Ukraine, stealing territories by the Mongol plagued Rus until the 15th century, heedless of the pain he caused, until his territory stretched from the Baltic Sea in the North, to the Black in the south.

The 100-year-war, where England, finally free, finally strong, and France, forever longing for that moment once again when the little, barbaric nation would lie under him helpless and vulnerable, both sought final dominance. The conflict sowed both countries with so much hatred, it was impossible to determine right from wrong. England raped and plundered as he saw fit, eager to prove his worth, eager to avenge himself, desperate to never again fall under the rule of someone else, to be defenceless, helpless and hurt.

The 30-years-wars, where Sweden killed so many civilians on his way, even starvation and epidemics put together could not equal the numbers where he had put foot. Until Spain and Austria saw no other choice but to throw Denmark, already conquered at that point and chained and collared neatly, against his neighbour.

Only one among many wars between Sweden and Denmark, more numerous than any other countries, not least because especially the Germanic States to the south did not want either blood hungering kingdom to turn their interest south and Holland, the trader and schemer, did not want the toll through Denmark's straits risen, impeding his trade with Russia and other states bordering the Baltic Sea.

Russia's rise in the East after the 14th century. A growing power that quickly gained much more land than anyone could have anticipated. A child, who had been torn by holy war and conquest, from both east and west. He did not waste his time cementing his power. He did not waste his time, showing that he would no longer tolerate abuse and soon, Lithuania had to enter into a commonwealth with Poland, just to not be swallowed up.,

And finally, the Ottoman Empire, always seeming to be smiling through that damnable mask, even if his eyes were always too shadowed to truly tell, always eager for more land to call his, more territory to lie under his rule, under his thumb, to manipulate, punish or reward as he saw fit.

He never told any of the other Europeans why he bore that mask. Never told them the joke; it was his, private and all the funnier for it. Because everyone in Europe wore a mask. In Europe, you did not survive without it.

The wars didn't stop until 1945.

Well, so far.

NOTES!

The Raven Banner was the first incarnation of Dannebrog (and what the current Dannebrog was named after) and was two black ravens on a red field. Denmark conquering England and Danelaw... well. Several times, kind of. But definite conquest from 1016-1035. (My head!canon says that Denmark taught England to fight during his rule here XD 'Cause he saw how helpless the little guy was against his brothers and felt pity even if England is Denmark's senior (officially, kind of) by a few decades.)

Norman Conquest of England: 1066. (Too bad it wasn't good enough to keep descendants of Norway out.) It ended the Viking era for good.

Habsburg Empire 1200-something until, counting all the later kind-ofs, 1908. I think.

I actually don't know which countries Spain has fought. I know he's fought England and France and Denmark (30-year-war and won, the bastard). I assume Portugal, since they're neighbours and, well, neighbours fight. He probably did also fight Prussia at some point, considering they were both major military powers and those generally do not like each other. He definitely fought Ottoman XD Uh, dunno when it was Spain was almost entirely consumed. I think there's some amazing story of how he regained his archipelago.

HRE: 962 to 1806. The southern crusades mainly went to Jerusalem. The Northern consisted of mainly Danish, Swedish and Teutonic knights and the Livonian Brothers of the Sword, killing, well, pagans in their own territories but mostly the Baltics. Sometimes the Swedish and German campaign against the Russian Orthodox Church is included. And just because I find this hilarious, Prussians were at the time a pagan ethnic group, residing in the Baltic region, what is now, I believe, Poland's coastline. They were conquered by the Teutonic Knights (duh)

Grand Duchy of Lithuania: 12th/13th century to 1569 (where it became part of the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth). ...It was really huge in the 15th century. I mean, seriously, wow. Went from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea.

100 year's war: 1337-1453. Notable figures: John of Bohemia, Henry V, The Black Prince (Prince Edward of Wales), Jean d'Arc.

I laugh in the general direction of -anyone- who thought Sweden was just a big teddy bear.

Russia freed from tartar rule, uh, well, not 1380, but as I understood it, that was a turning point. Was not entirely freed though until 15th century by Ivan III also known as Ivan the Great.

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><p>Reviews are welcome :) Please remember that this is unbetaed and, yeah.. please keep it in mind XD<p>

Writing this was extremely educational, actually. I planned on writing it without looking up any facts, but apparently, I cannot help myself XD There are a few discrepancies, though. Still, mostly correct according to wiki.


	2. Reason for Concern

Haha, I actually really enjoy writing America XD He's so fun~ His thought pattern is so different from how I imagine everyone else thinking, even the Awesome Trio, who might be the closest.

So! I wasn't going to make this a multichapter. But then I heard somewhere that someone had aalyzed why the great empires of the world had fallen and then analyzed America and found that America is actually showing each and every symptom atm. Uh, mind, I don't remember whre I heard this, source may not exactly be trustworthy... o.o;

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><p>This could not be happening! It just couldn't! It... everything was.. he had worked so hard! It couldn't... just... Everything he had worked for just <em>couldn't<em> be falling apart! How? _Why_? It made no sense! And how in the fucking name of whatever that thing England always swore on could it have happened so fast?

Out of breath, honestly, out of _breath_? He didn't get fucking out of breath! It just didn't happen! _It didn't_! Nevertheless he was... breathing a little deeper than he usually did after having made it to England's house as fast as possible. Probably made a new record too. Yeah. That was it. Due to his amazing record-breaking speed, probably passing the speed of light at _least_, his body may not be quite used to it. Yeah. He wasn't even really out of breath and it definitely wasn't because he was getting weak. It was a slight recession. A minor set back.

He knocked on England's door, impatiently waiting for the elderly nation to open it (he didn't care what England said, he was _way_ old! And he acted it!).

The handle turned and, impatient (hadn't he already gone over that? But this was an _emergency_ and England could surely explain, even if he did it in an old and dusty and boring way), America grabbed the icy cold metal (it was February and, fuck it, it was fucking cold, and GOD, he hated winter) and ripped it right out of England's hands. Because he was awesome. And the strongest. Not because England had predicted it and let go, returning his hand to his cup of tea, resting comfortably in a pure white saucer as thin as bloody paper. He raised the cup, taking a small sip and only bothered rising a questioning eyebrow as he lowered it again.

And America had not been quiet and let England make the first move and stuff because he was still out of breath. He was just being polite. Yeah. Because England liked fancy shit like politeness.

"Denmark just withdrew from NATO," he finally said.

"So I heard," England replied, calmly. Like Denmark had not been one of the staunchest, most steadfast, most reliable of his supporters world wide. True Denmark was kind of a small country and he hadn't always been able to remember him or tell the difference between him and Sweden (or Holland or Netherlands or any of the other Scandinavians) and Denmark had probably been so supportive of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization because he was so small and not very strong and having a lot of strong allies seemed like a good idea in such a situation, but _still_! Denmark was only the last of an entire _string_ of European countries and _Canada_ who had chosen to withdraw. All that was left now was, well, _him_. And England, of course. Why didn't England seem more concerned? Why wasn't England panicking?

Not that he was panicking, not at all, of course not, he was the hero, no Hero, capitals were important, it made it extra significant, and he certainly wasn't panicking. The reason he had gone to England's house in three times the speed of light was because he had been worried England might be panicking or at the very least feel a little _nervous_ and, oh my God, he was really good at hiding that, maybe he should get what was left of his Hollywood actors to take lessons from this guy?

"Doesn't that worry you?" Like, at all?

"After the others it was just a question of time." Another. Fucking. Calm. Sip. "Frankly it's nothing short of a miracle he stayed as long as he did. Maybe he forgot he was a member."

America quite forgot to breathe for just a few seconds. "That's the only thing that concerns you?"

"Denmark can be a little absent-minded, sometimes."

"Absent-minded?" What were they talking about, now?

"Well, yeah, when it suits him. Sometimes he's infuriatingly sharp. I'm still wondering if those are flukes."

"But... I thought we were friends."

"Don't be naïve, boy. He's European, he'll only be your friend while it's to his advantage and you no longer have the necessary strength to extend help to him, should he be attacked. Your economy is crap; you can't afford the kind of military you once could. He'll be looking for other allies... You better hope he won't realign himself with Russia."

"_Russia_?" No. That couldn't be. That would be a disaster! Besides... Besides, Denmark didn't agree with Russia at all, right? True, he was social-liberalist and that was awfully close to being a communist, but... _Russia_. That would be disastrous. Especially since Denmark had asked him to withdraw from the Thule Air Base. Well, okay, he couldn't very well afford to keep the northern base active, but... he needed that radar. Even if Fylingdales and Clear together pretty much covered the same range, but... Thule still covered all of Russia's north coast, and if one radar failed, knowing you had a back-up was awfully nice. "H-he wouldn't do that, would he?"

"You don't much follow foreign politics of other nations, do you?"

"Well, uh, some? But mostly possible threats, yanno? Like Russia, Pakistan, Iran..."

"Mmh, of course. And Denmark being a small country, Russia pretty much lost interest after the 90's. Denmark doesn't buy fuel or other natural resources from Russia much and Russia doesn't buy much from Denmark. They don't have much direct political contact, really. Nevertheless, you should've noted that whenever Denmark had the presidency of the European Union, he always worked to make the cooperation with Russia smoother. He's worked very hard to get Russia closer to Europe. Another instance where I can't tell if it's for the sake of old friendship or because he predicted that being on good terms with Russia would be to his advantage eventually." He sipped his tea again, letting the situation sink in. "Really, boy, '_know thy enemies_' and all."

"But... Denmark isn't my enemy."

"Well, he sure as hell isn't your friend any longer." England sighed, running his eyes over the younger nation. The _much_ younger nation. Really, this was why he had tried keeping the idiot sheltered; Europe was a pack of wolves. Or hyenas... Parasites? Rats? Either way, they'd use you for as long as they could, then discard you like a wet rag. They were survivors above anything else, discarding pride like you'd discard your favourite coat if your enemy was aiming for it. America... hadn't learned that lesson. He hadn't wanted America to ever learn that lesson, had wanted to let him keep that innocence and hope. Sweet, little America, who had given him everything he had always dreamed of, only to rip it away just when he had come to rely on it. "Speaking of which, neither am I. You'll receive and official notice as a soon as possible, of course. Please note that after I've properly left, you will no longer receive warnings from Fylingdales."

"What?" No, no, no, this was all wrong, it couldn't be happening!

"You did not honestly think I'd keep a mutual defence pact with you after it stopped being advantageous? I can't afford to get involved when you're attacked."

"But... aren't we.. like... family?"

"Canada left." A raised eyebrow.

"Well... yeah... he did." But Canada lived right next to him and they still had other agreements and stuff and besides, Canada wasn't European and most of his roots were European, kind of, and if England left, then he would have no allies in Europe at all and Canada wasn't as influential and he liked being backed up by the mostly like-minded Europeans and, well, loath as he was to admit it, the Europeans did have a knack for understanding the Russian better than he did. He had never bothered to think deeper than it was because they had known him longer, but this... suddenly he wondered if the understanding may run deeper than that.

He refocused on England, still calmly standing there. There was no more tea in his cup, so he had at least stopped the sipping but now he was just standing there. Waiting. Which was at least as provocative as the infernal sipping. He finally admitted to himself that yes, he was panicking and yes, he had reason to.

"W-what am I supposed to do?"

"Hm? You're asking me? Well, that's a first."

"Quit kidding around! This is... fuck, this is serious, tell me what to do! Please!"

England tilted his head, debating whether he should help or not. "Pray. Wait and pray. No one's going to declare war immediately, you will have that long at least. And then you watch. And learn. _Know thy enemy_, America, and now... everyone is your enemy."

America waited a little, resisting the urge to shift his weight. But England had resumed silence, standing oh-so-collected and aloof. Like it didn't fucking matter. "That's all? Don't you have, I dunno, some little more helpful advice?"

England's lips twitched. "Well, and hope none of your states decides to break loose." He casually looked at his watch. In a move that clearly said that it was premeditated and that the result of the observation was of little consequence. "Why, will you look at the time." Couldn't he at least have _attempted_ to sound sincere? "I have some rather important documents to shred, better get going. Farewell." And then he slammed the door.

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><p>NOTES OF RELEVANCE (Historical and stuff):<p>

Denmark was among the first nations to recognize USA as a country and has supported America in all major conflicts he's been up to since at least the Cold War ended, as well as allowing CIA to conduct torture of suspected terrorists during in-flights over Denmark after 2001. ...*wondering why it had to happen above Denmark instead of, well, the US* Denmark's so small, what did they do? Fly in circles until they had a confession or what? The current secretary general of NATO is former Danish prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen. ...For everyone's sake, I hope his English has gotten better since the Muhammed drawing crisis -_-;

England, of course, has been even more supportive of America than Denmark, sending more soldiers and such. ...Well, Denmark doesn't -have- that many soldiers to send but, eh XD

Thule Air Base is placed on the north-western coast of Greenland. Clear Air Force Station is in the middle of Alaska and Fylingdales is a British radar placed in the middle of England. Its information is shared with US. US also got a radar on one of the furthest out islands of Alaska called COBRA DANE... Mentioned here because, seriously, wtf America, how do you name your radars? XD

Yes, Denmark is kissing up to Russia, though not as much as we've been kissing up to America lately.

America has existed for, well, 3-400 years. He's not considered a young nation because of this, mind. Plenty of European countries are much younger, Germany and Italy being among them. However, they still have a far longer history. America is considered young because his history started with the settlers. Natives may have populated America before that, but their history, tradition, and culture have had little to no impact on the European settlers crossing the pond, whereas Germany, who's less than 150 years old, can trace his culture and history back 1000-1500 years. Italy, who's of much the same age, can trace his even further, at least 2500 years. Other young countries with far longer histories would include Finland, Iceland, Czech Republic, Kosovo, Serbia, Greece, Belgium, Netherlands... But age for a country is such a tricky thing, I think, the difference between when an idea of a nation appears and when the nation appears as a nation state... yeah.

Choosing Denmark as example since, well, I'm Danish and I know Denmark better than other countries. Much easier to follow our foreign policies than, say, Sweden's.

PLEASE! Review! It makes me so happy :)


	3. Energy

Yay! Chapter 2! The story is beginning to shape up, wooh! Please remember to review! It makes me so happy when you do :)

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><p><strong>Energy<strong>

Iceland checked himself in the mirror, pulling at his sleeve a bit. He had grown again. Not much, not the "several inches overnight" Denmark had told him of, back when his country was still being formed and the maturity of his government caused the nation to grow by leaps and bounds. Laughing, he had even once told Iceland of growing backwards, though the young Nordic more than suspected foul.

He fiddled a little with his sleeve again, not sure how he felt about the sudden growth spurt. Good? Proud, probably. Being a country of his own for less than a hundred years, he sort of had been looking forward to growing up, maybe even getting taller than Norway (maybe that would finally get him to stop pestering him about calling him 'big brother') though he never had any hope of topping Sweden. Or even Denmark.

Yeah. Fat chance that would ever happen.

It was not really that he wanted to deny his big brother. They were brothers, that had been established with certainty and that.. sort of did relieve him. Even if it really would have been cool if there had been an indigenous people of Iceland. Still, calling Norway big brother, calling _any_ of the other Nordics that, would feel like going back to when he was not his own country, back to when he had been ruled by Norway or, later, Denmark. It really was not that he didn't want them as his family, but sometimes he felt acutely how much younger he was and he _hated_ it.

Yes, he decided, it was good that he was growing. And he was proud that he was growing while the last vestiges of the economic crisis still had its teeth in him. Well, it would be no more. Being small and relatively unnoticed did have its advantages, but he had invested heavily in this project and finally the fruit was here.

Once again, Iceland tugged at the sleeve, still a bit bothered that he had not predicted this would happen, straightened his tie and smoothed down the front of his suit.

Ready, he spun on his heel, and exited the room, head held high, to join his parliament on the slopes of Eyjafjallajökull.

OoOoO

Norway stared passionlessly down the street, not sparing so much as a glance at the building he had just exited. He had gained a few queer glances from the otherwise bored personnel, the cleaning lady and the guy sitting at the counter, there only in case a civilian should step into the embassy. Neither had seen him come in, obviously. Sometimes Norway thought that even if embassies had not been a horribly efficient way of getting around the world (really, a little piece of Norwegian ground in the middle of Reykjavik? Norway remembered a time past when the mere idea would have been preposterous) he would still use it, just because it freaked his employees out. A little piece of entertainment where there were hardly any these days.

Strolling casually down the street, knowing he was here well ahead of schedule and had more than enough time to walk to Alþingishúsið, Norway tried figuring out why Iceland had called a meeting so suddenly, so _urgently_. He didn't like it, this lack of preparation, this not knowing what he was walking into. And he was walking into something, he was sure of it. Iceland somehow had something up his sleeve and somehow Norway did not have any idea what it was.

As he entered Austurvöllur, getting his destination in sight, he had still not been able to figure it out and when he finally entered the meeting room and saw Denmark leaning against a window, looking no less troubled than himself, the puzzlement only grew. The (occasionally entertaining) oaf wasn't even trying to hide his thoughts, eyebrows furrowed, white teeth gleaming every now and then as he pursed his lips in thought. Norway spent a few seconds studying his profile, contemplating what this could mean (and still arriving at no answers) before shutting the door behind him.

The Dane turned from the window as the door clicked shut. "You got any idea what this's about?" he asked, thankfully modulating his Danish into something distinguishable. The way Danes these days simply swallowed syllables and even entire words made it near incomprehensible. Norway's southern neighbour dragged out a chair from the table dominating the room and settled casually with one leg over the arm. They were in one of the smaller meeting rooms in Iceland's official parliament building, where Iceland himself also had his office.

Norway shook his head, dragged out another chair and wondering if Iceland had invited other countries than him and Denmark, since the table could easily seat at least eight. "Iceland?" he asked, sitting himself properly.

"Went for some extra paperwork I think. And coffee."

Norway nodded again, contemplated taking some paperwork out of his briefcase, then decided against it. He had just grabbed a little bit of everything, not exactly knowing what this meeting was about, but most likely, he would need none of it. Iceland would have said if he did. He noticed that Denmark likewise had no papers in front of him.

They sat a bare few moments in contemplative silence before Denmark, of course, broke it. "You really have no idea what's going on?"

Once again, Norway shook his head in the negative, staring out the window at the clear sky.

"You know, you should stop going all silent like that. It makes it so easy to see that you're upset."

"Mh," Norway acknowledged, not bothered by it. He knew already and had it been someone not Denmark here, he would have made more of an effort to act like he usually did, taciturn and biting, but it _was_ Denmark, and Denmark knew that he didn't care to hide his feelings from him.

"Heh, yeah, I guess you're right," Denmark answered as though he actually knew what the other thought. In truth, Norway figured, Denmark was just pretending. Well, maybe he guessed some. Most. A bit. It was hard to read Denmark these days, which was annoying to say the least. He used to be so straight forward, but having his territory shrink so much, having very few resources and a small population had forced him to invest in politics and, surprisingly, he was very, very good at it.

Then again, maybe it was not so surprising? The nation had always been social, a good (and continuous) talker and decent enough at recognizing a person's reasoning. Still, it was so hard to reconcile this nation with the uncompromising one who had ruled the entire North and made Europe tremble at his name.

The smaller of the two let his eyes flicker out the window again, realizing he had been focusing on Denmark's unruly mop of hair for a second. He heaved a sigh, flickered his eyes over the room, and heaved another sigh before he heard steps he recognized as his little brother's.

"Finally," Denmark exclaimed, echoing Norway's thoughts.

The door opened and Mr. Puffin flew through, quickly followed by Iceland, nose in his papers and a secretary with a tray of coffee an a few sweets.

Upon their entrance, Norway, more shocked than he could remember being in a long while, got up, pushing the chair violently into the wall in the process, walked over to Iceland, who had looked up when the chair impacted with the wall, and stared down into his puzzled eyes.

"Thank the gods," he whispered, stunned at his own exclamation.

"What? What, seriously, guys, wha-oh. Oh, wow, Icey, you're nearly as tall as Nor now! Awesome! You'll outgrow him yet!" Norway shot Denmark his most scathing look, shutting the idiot up, even though it didn't prevent a smug little smirk from developing on Iceland's lips.

The stupid puffin squawked in an echo of Denmark's statement, and the smaller Scandinavian transferred his glare. "He. Will. Not," Norway growled.

Denmark began laughing, clutching at his stomach and leaning heavily against the table. "Oh, oh seriously, Nor, you should've seen your face when you first noticed. I s-swear, I swear... you looked like you had seen a ghost. Oh, God, this is hi-la-ri-ous," he gasped out, not even bothering to contain his mirth. Wanker.

Norway huffed and returned to his seat, pretending for all the world like he had not just had an emotional episode over his little brother's height and that the little smug smirk was not still plastered all over Iceland's face. The secretary placed the tray and quickly left, leaving the countries to discuss their affairs.

"So," Denmark grinned, wiping a tear from his eye. "Why'd you call your dear big brothers here? Well, aside from showing off your new growth? What happened, by the way? That can't have been natural ageing." Norway nodded along, indicating that he wanted answers as well. He remembered the first such growth spurt back in the viking age. He and Denmark had shot up almost half a foot when their rulers decided to convert to Christianity, not because of a change of religion exactly (though the clergy certainly had made no small fuzz over how God had blessed them) but rather because the new religion gave the leaders more control over their people. It was a sign of a developing civilization.

But since Iceland's government was perfectly modern (and his civilization thus perfectly developed), something else must have happened. Something big.

Something they really should have heard of before this.

"I... I just solved the world's energy crisis." The statement was quiet, just a bit hesitant, but still confident. "Kind of." Suddenly, the only sound in the room was that of the pet bird sorting through the cookies.

"That," Norway surprised himself by being the first to regain the ability to speak. "That's not possible." And yet, Iceland had grown visibly since the last time he saw him. A week ago.

"I... actually, the new technology relies a lot on Japan's new type of fuel cells to... to store the energy but... but yeah. I have. Well, not me exactly. My scientists, of course, and... but I'm the one who pushed for it and, and I'm the one who funded it. It would work even without Japan's energy cells, they just make it easier. But, well, basically, they found a way to effectively harness heat energy." He waited, forcing himself to breathe evenly while the two older nations chewed on the announcement. Then Denmark began laughing. "I'm serious!" Iceland exclaimed indignantly, narrowing his eyes at his former caretaker, pissed that he was not being taken serious.

"Oh, I believe you, Ice, I really do, I just, oh, heh, I just got to thinking of America and his hero thing and, you know, his _face_ when he realizes that his oh-so-highly prized Global Man has been overtaken by a nation, who looks even younger than he does. Ooh! Also! Also! I _loved_ your dramatic introduction! '_I just solved the World's energy crisis_'. Iceland, that was brilliant. Please let me have a good seat when you announce it to the world? I wanna be able to see Sweden's face, oh, and Germany's. And America's, of course, and maybe Japan's as well? You know, he really thought _he_ had it all solved when he presented those fuel cells? Such a shame it's still not so effective to harness wind energy, though I can't say I'm complaining, and lets not even talk about sun cells yet. Those things-..."

"Denmark. Shut up."

Still grinning, Denmark shut up.

"I'm not announcing it. At least, I'm not sharing it,."

"Pardon?"

"I just got over going completely bankrupt a few years ago. I _will not_ share my technology. The method is still crude, but I am currently able to harness enough energy to cover every household on the European continent." Denmark whistled, impressed. "I can provide cheap, clean energy. I'm able to undercut the prize of pretty much any other energy provider in the world." Iceland stopped, reached for a mug and poured himself a cup, just to give his hands something to do. He left the cup on the table, allowing Mr. Puffin to come over and dip his beak.

"You'll be dealing in raw energy." Norway's voice was small. Oil prizes would drop severely if it was no longer used to fuel power stations and he was going to take a severe hit from this. Frowning, already planning how to minimize the damage, Norway also poured himself a cup and thoughtfully raised the scalding liquid to his lips.

"However, the world is no longer stable," Iceland continued. "NATO is gone for good, EU is barely holding on. I'm the most sparsely populated country in Europe. I need partnership in a union I can trust."

"You want protection," Denmark stated, realization dawning in his eyes.

"Yes. And easy trading. I need your ships, Denmark."

"You want a new trading union. Like EU but..."

"I will not get on a sinking ship. I'm not stupid."

"No... no, that you're not." Denmark dug into his briefcase, withdrawing a small electronic notebook. "This will need planning," he continued, booting the machine, which started humming in a low purr. The tall Scandinavian caressed the device lovingly, ignoring Norway's and Iceland's identical raised eyebrows, and began thumbing through documents using the touch pad. "We need more than us three, obviously. Even with Mærsk in on this, we won't have the necessary amount of ships and I don't have the money to fund building as many new ships as we'll need, I don't think. Besides, neither Norway nor I have the kind of military it would take to keep everyone away from you, once they realize what a prize you are. We need, hm, Sweden at the very least. Germany. England, if we can get him. He'd definitely be an asset to avoid industrial spies."

"What about Finland?" Iceland asked, curious. He knew sentimentality was useless in politics, but it just felt cruel to exclude him, now that the four other Nordics would be included.

Denmark hummed in response, thinking.

Norway knew where his thoughts were going; Finland was not needed. He wasn't weak, but he wasn't strong either, he wasn't poor, but he wasn't particularly rich either. He was stable, reliable, he had some resources, but they were not currently mined. Most likely, he would not be a liability, but not exactly an asset either. Norway knit his brows a bit. It did seem unnecessary to exclude him, though. "I don't see any reason not to include him," he finally said carefully.

"No," Denmark agreed, eyebrows drawn down, still deep in thought. "Besides," he grinned suddenly, "his music taste is kind of awesome. Also, he's possibly the only country in the world Russia's actually scared of, and Russia's gonna be one of the guys we need to be careful of. Do you remember that time in that meeting? When Finland suddenly made a sound, like he was cocking a rifle?" He laughed, not bothered by the fact that neither of the other nations present joined him. It really had been amusing, that time, really. Russia had looked ready to run or duck for cover at the noise while Finland had given him the most innocently curious look. None but the Nordics had caught on, but then, few others knew what laid beneath Finland's eternally serene exterior.

Norway remembered cornering Finland afterwards, wondering how he had gotten that reaction from the biggest nation on Earth.

_Smiling, looking serene and innocent and quite unrepentant, Finland pulled out his phone, ran his fingers along the touch-screen a few seconds and the clicking sound was replayed. "Pystykorva," he said, innocent smile perfectly intact. "1939. I was just wondering if he remembered, but it seems like his memory is still good."_

Norway's lips twitched. It had been perfectly hilarious.

He leaned down to get his own notebook, realizing that they were going to be planning and that he would likely need to take notes if he was to remember the finer details. "Should we call Sweden up immediately?" he asked while the computer started booting. "And Finland? What do you say, Iceland? This is your plan, after all."

The youngest looked up from his notes, a little surprised. For days he had been mentally preparing himself that he would have to fight the older nations for control of this plan, had expected them to take the lead if he slacked at all. Asking his permission to move on with his plan, asking _how_ he wanted to move on with the plan had not featured in his expectations.

An unguarded smile graced Norway's lips. He got up, walked over to Iceland's chair and pulled him into a warm hug. "Listen, Iceland. This is big. You're about to make world history. This will change politics all over Earth and I am so very proud of you. I would not be so crass as to take the moment from you." Iceland's lip trembled a bit, beyond touched. He had never doubted that Norway loved him as a little brother, and Norway was never cruel, not even when teasing him relentlessly (something both Norway and Denmark had explained was the duty of the older brother), but straight out complimenting him like this and showing physical affection so openly.. Not even Denmark was so open with his emotions, and Denmark was the Scandinavian most comfortable with showing feelings.

His musings were interrupted by a loud sniffle coming from said Scandinavian. Iceland turned his head, catching the Dane wiping a tear away just in time for another to fall.

"Stop crying, you sentimental dolt," Norway ordered, voice not quite as scathing as his words would indicate. "This isn't a royal wedding or anything." His voice became smaller as he spoke ending in little more than a mumble, and Iceland realized that his brother was extremely uncomfortable, though he wasn't letting him go.

"I know," the big lout they occasionally acknowledged as their brother answered, voice wavering. "But it's just such a beautiful moment, you guys! Come here!" And before Iceland realized what was about to happen, Denmark had lunged for them, picking both of them out of the chair and was crushing them against his chest.

"Idiot," Norway said. But he wasn't trying to get out of the hold either.

* * *

><p>TBC!<p>

I swear, this was not supposed to happen this way. Denmark, Norway and Iceland were all going to be cold and calculating and stuff, the way England was in the previous chapter, but then Norway (I kid you not, -Norway-, of all nations) decided that he was going to be nice and stuff and it all went, well, you can see how it ended XD

Personal head canon: Denmark cries like a baby at royal ceremonies, especially concerning his own royalty.

Notes of relevance:

Japan's fuel cells and Iceland's new technology are entirely fictional.

Also, Iceland is already using heat energy from his underground to fuel his power stations (look up the Blue Lagoon) but the way it's done, pumping up hot water from the underground and using it to run the turbines and stuff, is not truly effective. The waste of raw energy in the process is huge, though not as enormous as in regular power stations, where you use fossil fuels (such as oil) or nuclear reaction to heat the water. (Seriously, look up the Blue Lagoon, if nothing else because it is beautiful)

I considered mentioning another volcano than Eyjafjallajökull, but I figured this one's name were more likely to be recognized.

All places mentioned in the fic are genuine. I even checked Google Earth, to see how far the Norwegian embassy was from Iceland's parliament building. Denmark's embassy is about the same distance, though different direction, so I scrapped the idea of having them meet on the way.

Iceland was under Norway's (and Norway under Denmark's) rule until early 19th century, when Denmark had to secede Norway to Sweden. Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and Greenland then belonged fully to Denmark until 1943, when Iceland got independent. Faroes and Greenland are still Danish, though with their own government.

A.P. Møller-Mærsk is the biggest container ship company in the world. It's seated in Denmark. Vestas, another Danish company, is the biggest distributor of wind-turbines in the world.

Denmark additionally makes some of the best, most fuel efficient ships in the world. 10% of all container ships worldwide are made in Denmark. (I think. It's something I've been told so I don't remember the exact wording. It might instead be something like 10% of all shipments are shipped on Danish made ships or something)

Norway is the biggest exporter of raw oil in Europe.


	4. Toes and thresholds

Sweden refused to admit that the drive from the Nordic Embassy Complex to the Bundeskanzleramt amused him greatly. It was not that taking the drive in and of itself, a drive of less than ten minutes if traffic was on his side, was anything special. The Tiergarten was pretty enough as parks went and the roads were similarly clean enough for a public road of eight lanes. It was not that the Berlin Victory Column was particularly fascinating either. It was the thought of Denmark driving by said 67 metres tall monument every time he had business with Germany. And considering the two were neighbours that was fairly often. He imagined Prussia, too, must have quite a laugh over it; thinking of the Dane driving by the monument built to commemorate his own loss.

Acknowledging that the joke would probably never get old, Sweden shook his head disparagingly and entered the enormous building housing Germany's private office. And the chancellor's office. And an apartment for the chancellor's use, the chancellery and who knew what else. The building was huge. One of the biggest governmental headquarters in the world and Germany (or Prussia for that matter) could probably hide entire legions in its basement.

Upon entering, showing his pass with a roll of his eyes at the uptight security, Sweden didn't hesitate, going left and finding an elevator. He did not bother studying the art hung on white concrete walls or enjoying the view through the huge panoramic windows. The building was a monster of post-modern architecture and Sweden, though he did enjoy and promote progress, felt more at home in buildings of older origin. They just seemed somehow... warmer.

Ignoring the people eyeing him, seriously, it wasn't as though he didn't dress appropriately for formal visits, Sweden hefted his briefcase up a little and entered the elevator as it finally dinged open.

Sometimes he wondered if he shouldn't instead take the stairs, maybe it was faster.

Germany's newest secretary was a middle aged woman, who had probably been mighty pretty once, causing boys to sigh after her brown doe eyes or long to touch her loose curls. Truthfully she was still pretty, but after having given birth at least once, the lady no longer took care of her looks beyond making sure she looked professional. She was incredibly effective, Sweden knew, and just as much a stickler for discipline and orderliness as Germany himself. Denmark had once wondered aloud if Germany hired his secretaries for that, if they became like that after working with Germany or if all Germans really were like that. The last suggestion had obviously been more of a joke, and a bad one at that, but once you're one the third case of beer and second bottle of aquavit, not to mention the small tastes they had taken of various other liquors, anything is funny.

The woman checked his pass meticulously, the pass all nations had that said in pretty much any language "I am important and I have a right to be in your governmental building", before checking her computer for the appointment Sweden had made yesterday, the one he knew he was on time for with at least two minutes to spare even with the German sticklering for procedure, before notifying her employer that his 1400 appointment had arrived.

Had she also adopted military terms after Germany hired her or was that a personal quirk? Maybe she had been in the army before. That would explain some things.

"Send him in," was Germany's curt response to the notification and the secretary, a bit redundantly, waved Sweden in. Sweden opened the white painted door, nodding curtly to the blond occupying the spacious room. The Scandinavian eyed the furnishings, wondering who had designed it. It certainly was not Ikea. Could be one of Denmark's, though unlikely. Countries tended to support their own when it came to their personal stuff. The ergonomical desk was raised to waist height, Germany standing upright behind the desktop, silhouetted by the floor to ceiling windows that took up the entire outer wall. A few unobtrusive but colourful images on the walls and a walnut finish to the body of his cupboards and shelving units relieved the space from being completely colourless, despite desktop and cupboard covers in solid black glass. Truth be told, Sweden really liked Germany's office; it was modern and it fit the image of the building without being cold and lifeless.

"Guten tag, Schweden," Germany greeted distractedly, pressing a few last buttons on his keyboard. Prussia's heir had once asked if Sweden preferred English, but that was many years ago and at the time, Sweden had honestly been much more comfortable with German and since he had not become any less comfortable with the language (just gotten better with English) they still spoke German together. As did the rest of the Nordics, truthfully.

"Guten tag," Sweden replied politely, waiting for Germany to lower the table before taking a seat. It was enormously uncomfortable sitting in the otherwise quite comfortable chair when the one you were talking with was standing behind a raised desk.

Germany pressed the little button that would slowly bring the desk down to a height more suitable for sitting by before going to one of his cupboards. He slid a cover aside, revealing an espresso machine. "Which would you prefer?"

"Black, thank you."

Germany nodded, pressing a few buttons. The machine beeped and filled the cup almost immediately. By the time Germany returned to his guest, the desk had lowered and Sweden was seated in the only other chair besides the office chair behind the table.

He handed the cup over, keeping his expression neutral. Sweden had not told him what this meeting was about when he arranged it, just that it was rather important, and when nations like Sweden used the wording 'rather important' they usually meant 'vital'. It had prompted the slightly smaller blond to go through his budget for hours the previous day and he had used the entire day today reading up on his official stances on a rather diverse range of topics; from organic vegetables to China's handling of human rights. He hated that he had not been given more warning and he hated that he had not been given more information. Something big was cooking; the entire North had gone hush with frightening suddenness two days ago. He was willing to bet England was ripping out his hair, not knowing what was going on. Unless MI6 knew more than Germany's own secret service, which was likely, granted, but spying on the Nordics hadn't been needed since... since well before the Great War. They just were no longer the types to start anything dangerous, since they had all fallen from the peak of greatness.

Germany pulled his own chair behind his desk, double-checking that his computer wasn't showing anything classified, before seating himself and fixing his eyes on the Scandinavian. He realized that somewhere between handling Sweden his coffee and getting around his desk, he had developed a frown but didn't bother wiping it off. Probably, he was about to learn what had happened and what the former Vikings had been planning.

Sweden placed his briefcase on the table in front of them, opened it and drew out a small stack of papers. He hesitated briefly, then placed the files in front of Germany.

Said nation bent forward, quickly scanning the papers, then, once he realized what they actually were, bent further, intently studying the numbers. Sweden let him, waiting patiently for the younger to start asking questions.

"What... what is this?" he finally breathed. These figures, if they meant what he thought they were supposed to mean, they were utterly impossible.

"The amount of tonnes of oil equivalent Iceland's newest power plant produces at top capacity."

"But this is _daily_." He threw a quick calculating glance at Sweden, wondering if the stoic man had been pulled into a joke of some sort, but his face was perfectly impassive. He looked down again, swallowing heavily. If he had a power plant like this, he would be set to provide electricity for his entire country and then some. Then quite a lot 'some'. "This is impossible," he whispered.

"Iceland has found a way to effectively transform heat energy into electricity. The numbers are genuine."

"Scheisse." A thought occurred to him and he shifted through the papers quickly, finding another set of numbers. He cursed again, internally but much more heartfelt. Even with transport costs, Iceland could undercut the entire energy industry of the continent. Maybe the entire world. This was dangerous information. Very, very dangerous information. Had it occurred while the world was still stable, it would not have been much of a problem for Iceland, still being under NATO's protection, but now... Germany began calculating, missing the amused glint in Sweden's eyes. One of the advantages of bringing papers like this was that you could see what the other was looking at and knowing this person's interests made it possible to guess their thoughts.

"Iceland wants protection." Germany looked up, not looking surprised in the least, eyes sharp and cold at Sweden's statement. The shock had worn off and he was already figuring out how he could gain from this information. "Denmark and Norway are currently with Britain. They will get his cooperation." There was no doubt about that. Britain might be more tricky, older and in many ways more jaded than Germany, who tended to take best to straight forward logic and facts, but Denmark and Norway were the Nordics who knew the temperamental island nation best and they were both quite tricky in their own right. When working together...

He allowed the meaning to sink into the southerner for a few minutes before continuing. "We propose a union between the five Nordics, Britain and you." He did not elaborate, did not need to tell that being part of this new union meant to cancel membership of the old, letting Germany contemplate it for himself. He could have easily listed the benefits as well as the draw-backs to the other, but knew the young nation was more than capable of realizing them on his own.

Said nation eyed the Swede, making a show of studying him. "If I agree, EU is gone." Not just fading, like it seemed to now, but it'd be gone before the end of the year.

"Yes." But if Britain left, it would blow apart either way. "With the agricultural support program." Germany allowed a brief smile at the quip. Everyone knew that France's and Spain's (but mostly France's since he had right of veto) insistence of keeping said support intact had grated on the Germanic's nerves for decades. Germany had of course already known, but had still felt the need to point it out. Somehow, it had been amusing that Sweden had not pointed out that whether Germany and Britain left or not, the union's days were probably already numbered. They were just hurrying its demise.

The room fell silent once again, only interrupted when Sweden sipped his coffee.

Germany grabbed his own coffee, little more than lukewarm at this point, and swallowed what was left, still thinking. Yes, EU would not be able to handle two of its economic pillars leaving, but then, if Germany was one of those leaving, that was none of his concern. He might lose the advantages he currently had when trading with Southern Europe, which was the reason he was in the union to begin with. That was problematic. He didn't think the new alliance itself would prevent him trading with other countries, but he was intimately familiar with the trouble outsiders had with getting wares into the European Union at prizes that were affordable. France especially would be trying to keep it together for a while. Italy too, probably, and Spain of course. It would hurt his economy some, for a while. But his economy was more robust than that of the southerners, especially after the crisis, and should EU against all expectations last longer than a couple of months, they too were dependent on trade with him.

"What do I get out of it, exactly?"

Sweden looked at him, and took his time answering. "Aside from the trade union? A considerable discount when purchasing energy from Iceland, not to mention that Iceland will give you the time necessary to restructure your own energy industry before he starts cutting into your market. Additionally, in case of war, Norway will provide the oil necessary to power planes and rockets. And we'll all stand by with men as far as possible, obviously."

"You're expecting it will happen."

"Yes." Eventually.

That soured the situation some. Germany pressed his lips together. Aside from the prospect of possible war, the deal seemed good, but he remembered only too well the consequences war tended to have for him, remembered what he became during war time.

"Deutschland. War is returning to Europe."

"I know." But he still felt that it should sadden him.

"Iceland is protected by the ocean. You won't be. And Europeans have long memories." Especially if they were looking for an excuse, but he didn't add the last part, knowing the blond knew only too well how they became when looking for reasons to be cruel.

The German forced his jaw to unclench. He swivelled his chair around, staring out at the Tiergarten's green surface, though all that could be seen from this angle was the top of the many trees. He had no interest in participating in wars. His economy was strong and his people content. But he knew Sweden was right; once the European Union disappeared, and it would, there was very little keeping the old empires and young nations from falling on each other. It would not be the world wars all over again, the world was far too divided for that, but that didn't change the fact that Germany, while strong, was also desirable. Whether he was well-liked or not... that hardly mattered. He had heard too many of Prussia's stories to not know better. One of the best examples was sitting comfortably in his office; Denmark and Sweden had been as close to brothers as possible and yet they had still had more strife than any other two countries in the world.

When he turned back to Sweden his eyes had cooled an extra couple of degrees, chips of blue ice in his sculpted face. "Is it going to be exclusive?"

"Exclusive?"

"Will this alliance be opened for membership to more nations?"

Sweden mulled that over. That had not been brought up during the otherwise quite extensive negotiations. "Iceland can't afford to give that kind of price cut to too many nations. And we'd rather keep this union to nations we mostly agree with."

"How much of my supremacy would be in question?"

"Up for negotiation."

"How are decisions made?"

"Compromise when possible, majority vote when not. One vote per country."

Germany's eyes narrowed at that. "Veto?"

"Only if it directly affects your economy."

"Example?"

"Like we ask for fixed prizes for oil from Norway; he can veto that."

Germany hummed noncommittally, wheels turning fast before he reached out and pressed a button on his intercom. "Frau Hausler, please get my brother here. Pronto."

"Yes, sir." She was definitely military, Sweden decided.

The connection was cut immediately and the two Aryans sat in silence until rather fast-paced footsteps could be heard coming down the hall.

"Oi." The call sounded long before Prussia ripped the door open, ignoring the indignant secretary. "West, if you're calling me here just to sign another fucking document that for whatever reason needs both our signatures, I swear-.. oh. Hallo Schweden," he greeted amiably, eyeing the room and its complete lack of free chairs. He shrugged and went to get himself a cup of coffee from the machine, blowing on it as he leant casually against the wall. "So. What brings you down here? We finally allowed to learn the big bad truth of what's going on up north?"

The Nordic narrowed his eyes, hating that the loud-mouthed, former kingdom had chosen a place to lean that would prevent him from keeping both brothers in his line of sight. He moved his eyes back to the blond sitting behind the desk, raising an eyebrow. Was he supposed to go over the deal again? He'd rather not, he wasn't a talker and he didn't like dealing with Prussia much. One hyper, loud, arrogant fool was more than enough. He'd rather not deal with another one.

"Sweden is offering us a new alliance, an alternative to NATO and EU both," Germany looked to Sweden for confirmation, which he got in the form of a slight nod, before continuing. "The new thing is, however, that this union's main player is Iceland." Prussia lowered his mug, eyes a little wide. "Iceland has found a way to produce a lot of energy at little cost. I'm guessing he uses magmatic heat?" Sweden nodded again. "The members are ideally, according to Sweden, himself, Iceland, United Kingdom, Norway, Denmark, Finland and us, decision-making is based on the Scandinavian democracy model, with the exception of whether the decision directly affects your economy, in which case you're allowed veto." He figured they would have to negotiate an exact agreement of exactly how direct that effect has to be before veto right is given. He paused. "They expect that the union, with Iceland, is a likely target for foreign aggression."

"Kesese, I could imagine, if he's got technology like that! And the sea is no longer such an awesome barrier. I can see why he feels vulnerable! No wonder he wants the awesome me and my brother on his team!" Prussia laughed, reminding Sweden acutely of why he hadn't fully taken over Prussia back in 1656 and instead kept the duchy as a fiefdom. "So... you trying to not-so-subtly re-enact Nazism or something?" he finally asked, an amused glint in his sharp eyes. Both blonds looked up, prompting the former empire to break out into laughter again at the almost identical glares of confused contempt. "I... I just mean," he got out between snickers "you're gathering the most Aryan nations in the world, right? People are gonna wonder."

"No," Sweden answered finally. "We just agree more."

"Ah, I see," the albino nodded, still grinning but most of the amusement abated for now. So the union was based on like-mindedness? That would allow for a more unified front. Not bad thinking if the dog-eat-dog mentality was returning to Europe. He didn't say it out loud, though. Germany had not called him for his agreement – well, yeah, that too, but his brother was not going to say yes immediately regardless and they could have spoken in private before signing any lasting contracts. Germany wanted him here to see if it was possible to get more admissions out of the stoic Scandinavian, and if he began elaborating openly on the advantages of the union they proposed that was as good as accepting. The trick with Sweden was that he really, really disliked talking unnecessarily. You had to find the balance where he _was_ talking but not too much, or he would freak out and clamp up tighter than an oyster. So... facts first. "So, who's already agreed to the union? And whose idea was it?"

"The North is already in. The idea came from Iceland, Denmark and Norway." Prussia's eyebrow twitched. Well, if that was not interesting. So Sweden hadn't been told who exactly had come up with it? That meant that potentially Norway or Denmark could be behind it, meaning there might be another main player. He was silently tallying up the pieces, placing them on a mental chessboard as he mulled over the information.

"Who's talking with England?"

"Denmark and Norway." Damn it, that didn't get him any closer to a potential puppeteer.

"Uh, exactly how much energy can Iceland produce with this new technology?"

"Nearly a thousand tonnes of oil equivalent a year."

"Okay...?" So, he did not exactly know what that meant, sue him. Numbers only seemed to work in his head when it was about armies. "How much is that in, you know, practical numbers?"

Sweden didn't answer, probably not really certain what he meant or maybe just annoyed at his ignorance. He moved his gaze to his brother, lifting an eyebrow. "Three times our entire energy demand." Well, shit and fuck. He could see how pained the admission made his brother as well, this was... he swallowed, wishing he had some papers or something to look at while getting his bearing back.

"How many plants?"

"One."

_What?_ "What?" Sweden didn't bother to answer that, just offered one of those glares that meant he was entirely unimpressed. "At what cost?"

"Around 5.2 billion Euros to build the plant. Running it is next to nothing."

"Next to nothing? _How_ 'next to nothing'?"

"Less than half a Euro cent per kilowatt hour."

Prussia hummed, not really knowing whether that was so impressive or not. It's not like he OCD'd over cost efficiency of the electricity sector, but Germany had acknowledged that it was cheap. Sweden did mention another interesting topic though.

"What about currency? We've still got the Euro. If we're no longer part of the union, uh, that union, I mean, seriously, you guys have a name for this new union or something? Anyways, if we're no longer part of the European Union, they're probably going to be a bit pissed if we still have their currency."

"That's left up to you." Both Germans winced internally, certain that could have been worded more diplomatically, certain that if either of them had used the wording in a diplomatic situation, someone would have taken it the wrong way. Either way, if it was up to them, they could tailor the solution to fit them best. Maybe they ought to talk with Finland about that, since he was also part of the Euro-zone.

Germany eyed his brother, received eye contact and got a confident grin sent back. Was there a point to this interrogation? All that information was already in the papers, there for them to peruse at their leisure. He knew that Prussia probably had something else he wanted to know and probably knew how to get it; he _had_ had some rather close relations to Sweden once. Germany just never quite understood why things like that could not be asked directly and answered directly. It made it so much easier. This... this was like talking business with Spain or Italy or Japan; lots of small-talk over dinner first, being polite and social and achingly false while you asked a bunch of questions meant to make you seem genuine and interested and intelligent all at the same time. Frankly, in Germany's opinion, it was a waste of time when it made no difference at all once it came down to hammering out whatever deal was made.

"No," Sweden answered a question Germany realized he must have missed. Idiot, spacing out. Sweden glanced at the blond briefly then focused on Prussia again.

"Shame, you guys used to be so close, I thought you might have. Either way, not to offend him or anything, but do you know why he's been involved? Aside from gathering all the Nordics in a big happy union like in the old days, he doesn't have that much to offer, does he? You've got your weapons, Norway's got oil, Denmark's got connections, we've got industry, Britain has that spy-network going... There's more, I guess," much more and he didn't have to guess, "but that still leaves Finland with... well, what does he have? Paper and mobile phones? No offence or anything but I gotta wonder."

The Nordic shifted his shoulders minutely. "Russia's going to be a big threat," he admitted.

Prussia whistled. Of course. Europe was currently heavily dependent on fuel resources from the Slavic nation. Losing that market... Yes, Russia was going to be pissed. "But how does Finland help against that?"

Sweden shifted, placing his right ankle on his left knee, wondering if he really ought to answer the question. Even the other Nordics did not truly know why Finland was such an asset against the super power. "He did win the Winter War," he finally left it at, looking at Germany and missing Prussia's slight tilting of the head.

"Frankly, I'm still kind of amazed at that one. How did he pull it off?"

Sweden shrugged noncommittally.

"Right," the albino replied. He needed to steer the conversation beck to Scandinavia. "How are you guys feeling about Icey taking the lead in this? I mean, he's quite a bit younger than you are. Hell, he didn't even get full independence until forty-four," which had caused Denmark to throw a monster of a tantrum. Even Germany had been wary of getting near the blond for a few weeks.

"Don't really care."

"Not even Denmark? What about Norway and his obsession with being the big brother?"

"They're… proud. Denmark acts as though his guidance alone helped Iceland get this far." Sweden's nose twitched.

Prussia grinned, looking at his own little brother. He could definitely sympathize with that sentiment. "Will it be a problem?"

"What?"

"Iceland _is_ very young. If his energy is the basis of the union…" _then he could be the de facto leader_. But he didn't say that out loud, hating to admit as much.

"He won't… make hasty decisions," the Swede finished with a short look at a lightly blushing Germany. Prussia frowned, annoyed. It was about time Germany stopped being ashamed of said hasty decisions. At least Sweden was diplomatic about it; last time France had hinted at the world wars the dig had been far more caustic. He might get along with him and Spain privately, but whenever the romance-obsessed ponce made those digs, the albino felt like throttling him.

"How do you know?" Germany asked, honest curiosity in his eyes.

"He's… cautious. He's learned from Denmark's mistakes." A short, barely detectable smile accompanied the statement and was gone.

The two brothers contemplated that. It was true that unlike Prussia, whose military accomplishments had in large part inspired Germany and his leaders, Denmark had pretty much only been losing while Iceland grew up. Neither had ever contemplated the influence that would have on a developing nation before, but truly, it must have made some difference in his mind-set. A frown suddenly marred Prussia's features. "You know, sometimes hesitation can be just as devastating as a decision taken in haste."

"I would not call this proposition cautious."

"Hm… No. I guess it isn't at that. Guess Denmark did manage to raise him well after all." Provided this was really Iceland's suggestion.

"It's more Norway's influence, surely."

The older brother snorted into his coffee, continuously amused by the stocky Swede's refusal to give Denmark any credit that couldn't be laid at the feet of another Nordic. It was kind of hilarious, because the rule only applied when it was Sweden who criticized Denmark. And the same could be said of Denmark; no one except Denmark was allowed to criticize Sweden. And you could tell when they were criticising each other just for the sake of it. Like now, by the way Sweden's nostrils twitched. It was seriously the weirdest tell ever, Prussia thought, but it was there and once you noticed, for some reason you couldn't _stop_ looking at his nose. "I'd love to have been there when Iceland proposed this to them." _If_ he had made the proposal. If, if, if. "I wonder what they looked like when he told them? Ah, Denmark's face must've been hilarious."

"Norway… Norway would probably have been… funnier."

"Huh? Why?" It was a good thing his mouth worked without his brain, because that statement had been entirely unexpected. Not only was it a joke against someone other than Denmark, it was information _volunteered_ with hardly any prompting.

"Iceland has grown. Three, maybe four centimetres."

"Huh. Cool. Uh, are you sure Norway would care about something like that?"

"Yeah. Denmark wouldn't shut up about it." Ah, now it made sense. But no nose twitch. Huh.

"Really? What did he say?"

"Just… stupid things. You know him." Sweden's shoulder twitched and he averted his gaze to look at Germany, finding the younger brother attentively following their conversation, elbows resting on the table and his fingers intertwined in front of his nose. Sweden's jaw clenched slightly. "Is there anything more you want to know?"

Prussia grimaced, again hiding it in his cup. The audience was over. They'd be lucky if they could get Sweden to admit how many citizens he currently represented now.

"I want the invitation to be extended to the Netherlands, Belgium and Austria," Germany interjected.

"That's Iceland's decision." The German nodded. That was understandable.

Sweden rose from his chair, placed the empty coffee cup on the desk, nodded to the two occupants of the room and left without a word.

"Well, Sweden thinks we'll join. He definitely believes we won't find any hidden disadvantages," Prussia stated, once Sweden's steps had retreated sufficiently. Whether there _were_ any hidden disadvantages was a bit trickier to guess. Sweden didn't seem to know of any, but there was that question of who had proposed it all and if they had a secret agenda. But if there was, Sweden seemed to be out of the loop as well, and that was likely in their favour. Too bad Sweden had been so weirded out over not having both brothers in sight, evidenced by his constant shifting and glances. It had just been getting good too and Prussia had hoped to be able to drag just a few more admissions out and get just a little more understanding of how the dysfunctional family to the north was interacting now. "I think it's a pretty good deal."

Germany nodded. They would end up agreeing. Now it was just a question of how sweet a deal they could negotiate.

* * *

><p>If anyone has a suggestion for an official name for this union, please, share :D If it's good, I'll use it.<p>

**Optional reading (also known as notes of relevance): **

The Bundeskanzleramt covers 12,000 sq. m. (8 times the size of the White House) and was opened in 2001. It's closed to the public except one weekend every year, usually in August (according to sources) so I don't really know how it looks inside so... partly guessing, partly going off the few pictures I could find online.

The Berlin Victory Column was designed to commemorate Prussia's victory over Denmark in 1864 when he successfully took Schleswig-Holstein. By the time it was finished, Prussia had also won against France and Austria and so it came to symbolize the win over all three. It's decorated with cannons taken on the battlefield and a statue of the Roman goddess Victoria on top. It's actually rather pretty (and the statue is gorgeous). For the record, Denmark does not in fact drive by the column from his embassy; he takes a bike through the Tiergarten.

The five Nordics share accommodations, sort of, for embassies in Berlin; they have different buildings, but they're all together behind a snaking wall of copper plates. They also have a common house there :p

Germany's office inspired by Röhr-Bush design, for reference if anyone wanna take a look. I just mixed a little of several in my head, but used TECHNO as main reference. It was really, really fun thinking of his office, btw. Especially since Germany's probably one of the few countries with absolutely modern furnishing (the Bundeskanzleramt is -very- post-modern. Having an old-fashioned office in that building... Yeah, can't imagine it)

They speak German, because German was the language of state for most of the Scandinavians for a long time, most notably during the Kalmar Union (and by proxy, also Iceland and Finland). By making the language of state different from the common language, you exclude people without education from having anything to do with the government. Kind of smart, in a way (Latin has also been language of state. And French. At least in Denmark). So yeah. Using a little bit of German vocab here and there only to make that more obvious, since I am obviously doing the reader the favour of translating their dialogue XD

Concerning the European Union politics...ugh, complicated. Suffice to say that Denmark is rather peeved every now and then when they claim that banning certain questionable additives from food violates trade agreements (meaning that the southern Europeans have trouble selling stuff up here 'cause they add weird stuff) and Germany (with a large portion of at least the rest of North Europe backing it) has time and again suggested the agricultural support to be cancelled, only to get vetoed time and again by France, who's got a rather large group of farmers depending on said support. Or thinking they depend on said support. Not sure, again. Basically, the division in Europe is currently mostly south-north. Eastern Europe that's been added recently seems to just roll with what Western Europe decides. At least, I don't remember hearing of them demanding outrageous things, but then, none of them has veto right or very much political clout with Western Europe.

Anyone interested in exactly how confusing Prussia was defined in 16-1700s, look up Brandenburg-Prussia, Royal Prussia, Province of Prussia and Duchy of Prussia. *Head desk* Some time, I will read it all properly and figure it out, including the rather weird relationship to The Holy Roman Empire, but it's not really going to be a part of this fic.

"Tonnes of oil equivalent" is generally shortened to toe, but even if the nations here would likely be more than familiar with the term, I didn't think many readers would recognize it, so I just used the full term.

Iceland separated from Denmark in 1944, while Denmark was occupied by Germany. We were quite hurt that they would do that, leave while we could have no say at all :( Not that I think we would have said no, just… it's a principle thing.

Please R&R! Cookies? Apple crumble? What do you need to bribe people with these days? XD


	5. Bloody Schemes

Ehehehe, hi *hides*

* * *

><p>Being the most powerful empire, England mused, had been a lot less complicated than this, this… game of politics. Of course, those times had all in all been a lot simpler; the entire world had been drawn up in "me", "us" and "them". And anyone weaker had been fair game.<p>

Maybe, just maybe, he should be thankful to America's role in dividing the world up again even after he had done everything in his power to unite them. The United bloody Nations were not so bloody united anymore.

England gave himself a satisfied smirk in the mirror. The world was splintering and all the animosity that had been quietly seething under the surface was sure to break into a full-fledged inferno. Maybe he would declare war on France and they'd once again spend a century doing their best to invalidate or, preferably, eradicate each other. Just like in the good old times.

Well, Denmark and Norway were due to arrive in two minutes, but since it was not an official meeting, they would not be exact. Most likely five minutes late, meaning he had plenty of time to decide which jacket to wear over his striped cream and white shirt. No tie, the meeting was disguised as a social visit, and a casual one at that, but a sufficiently nice, casual jacket would be appropriate. Besides, he _really_ wanted to know what was going on with them and showing any kind of deliberate disrespect might delay it. MI6 had been focused on other places for so long, once the agents that had been stationed by the Scandinavians' governments retired, they had simply never been replaced. On top of that, Scandinavians fancied themselves incorruptible and they had some idiotic idea that giving him the vital information he needed before someone did something foolish was betraying their beloved fatherland. Bloody socialists, the lot. Too bleeding close to Prussia and his bleeding virtues.

Right, a dark tan tweed jacket would suffice.

Leaving the jacket unbuttoned, England descended to the ground floor of his town residence and entered the kitchen to make ready for tea and crumpets.

Seven minutes later someone rang his bell.

Setting the fresh, hot crumpets aside, England wiped his hands, checked that the tea did still need another two minutes and then went to open his front door. The two Scandinavians who had invited themselves over were indeed standing on his front step, each in a casual suit jacket and pressed trousers and a shirt. Norway had even chosen to wear a matching fedora with a gutter-dent and side-dented crown. Quite formal by Scandinavian standards for a so-called informal meeting.

"Welcome," England intoned smiling, relieved that he had not chosen to forgo the jacket. "Please, come inside."

"Thanks, England," Denmark answered smiling that ever-present, impossible smile and stepped inside followed closely by his smaller companion, who mumbled his own thanks and removed the hat politely.

"I've prepared tea and crumpets, please take a seat in the sitting room and I'll go get it. Is there anything else I can get you?"

"Well, a beer wouldn't be bad, right, Norway?"

"Don't be an idiot." The smaller one cast his taller companion a scathing look, prompting the Dane into an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, sorry, tea's fine," he smiled, holding a defensive hand up.

England barely held back a snort of derision, turning around to get the tea from the kitchen. Bloody Nordics and their bloody weird relationships. Was it so difficult to decide whether they liked or disliked each other? It was enough to make his own familial relations look positively human.

Returning to the living room he'd managed to once again plaster a polite, if not exactly genuine, smile on his face. The two Scandinavians had meanwhile found a seat in his sofa, Norway exasperatedly pushing the Dane away to the opposite side of the furniture, a rejection the Dane took in stride. Probably used to the harsh treatment. America, too, had grown disturbingly, annoyingly resilient to criticism over the years and it probably had more than a little to do with his imminent end.

"How do you lads take your tea again?"

"No milk, no sugar, thanks." England nodded and handed Norway a saucer with a cup of pure steaming hot tea.

"Me too," Denmark stated, eyes not even on his host but interestedly looking at an antique cabinet where the glass in the doors was so old that it had long since lost its rigidity and had become slightly wavy. "I'll have my tea without anything, too, I mean," he explained before turning his eyes back to the table to receive his tea.

"So how have you been, lately? We heard you withdrew from NATO as well..?" Norway began politely while England was stirring two sugars and a dollop of milk into his own cup. Only barbarians took tea straight. But that wasn't something you mentioned out loud at an informal, possibly important meeting.

Taking a small sip from his cup before he answered, savouring the taste and centring himself for a conversation of dancing around the subject until he could get at it from an angle that was to his own best advantage, England contemplated how to start this. "I've been well, thanks, all things considered. At least, I'm well enough to realise that staying connected to… that would only end in catastrophe. Not unlike you, chaps, right? America came crying to my door after Denmark left, sobbing like some human ten-year-old that lost his mother." He shook his head and took another swallow of milky tea.

Denmark barked a laugh, once again turning his attention back to the table for a short moment. "I sort of forgot I hadn't relinquished membership." He shrugged and took a gulp of his still-steaming tea and began coughing when it burned his throat.

His smaller companion offered him an unsympathetic look, shrugging despairingly at England before taking a careful sip himself.

"Sorry," Denmark hacked, putting his cup on the table (and not the saucer, twit). Norway rolled his eyes, shot the tall Dane a scathing look and put the cup in the saucer pointedly before offering England his own silent apology for the company he had brought. Luckily the heat hadn't managed to ruin the table top.

"Did you finish aligning the enchantment for growing plants with the circle? I tried taking a look at it, but I couldn't detect the problem aside from it being some part of the circle." They both ignored Denmark's rolled eyes. It was his own fault for forgetting his manners in other people's houses.

"Yeah, I've narrowed it down to the three northern symbols, actually."

Realising that England was playing along with Norway to exclude him, Denmark rose to have a closer look at that cabinet. The two magickers could be so childish.

"I think since North symbolises winter," England continued undisturbed. "Then those three particular symbols have been switched around by the author, which is what causes the disruption at the later stage. I think-"

"This is from the nineteenth century, isn't it? Victorian? Just around the forties if I don't miss my guess," Denmark suddenly interrupted and they both swivelled their gazes around to see the tall nation bend so close to the meticulous inlays his nose was almost touching the wood. "Mahogany and… is it cherry?"

"Yes, it is," England answered a little surprised that the other could tell.

"Hmm," he hummed, curiously running his hands along the dark wood. "Good craftsmanship, repaired at least once. Who wrecked it?"

"Australia. Had a temper tantrum that Western Australia didn't receive a responsible government like the rest of his territories."

"I see. Well, it isn't really noticeable unless you know what you're looking for."

"Forsooth, I trust your judgment on that." He sipped his tea and turned back to Norway, considering the brief conversation over with.

"Hey, England! What's this?" With an apologetic sigh to Norway, who smiled indulgently, England turned back to Denmark who was carefully inspecting a small, richly decorated Chinese vase.

The Brit grimaced. "It's a Ming vase." _And you ruddy well better not touch it or you won't merely get your ears boxed!_

"Really? A real one? Ah, of course it's a real one, sorry, when did you get it?"

There was a brief pause as their host recollected where he had gotten that exact vase before a satisfied smirk settled on his lips. "In 1860 during the looting of the Old Summer Palace in Peking."

"Oh, really? Ah, man, I should've gotten more involved in the opium trade back then; then maybe I wouldn't have gone bankrupt in sixty-four. I hear it was a rather easy victory? Damn, I wish we could go do that to China now; he's gotten rather bold, hasn't he? So annoying to deal with these days… hey, you don't reckon we could get him hooked on opium again, do you?"

"I don't think he would fall for that one again, no." It would be convenient, though. The situation right now was actually pretty close to the situation in the eighteen twenties, when they bought so much from China yet sold so little. The trade imbalance had been so enormous with thousands of silver coins flowing into China and so little coming back out that they had begun smuggling opium. England hid a smirk in his tea; it had taken just five years to turn that around with cheap opium from India and in thirty-five the western tradesmen were once more getting more silver than they were paying. China's attempts to stop them had been laughable. "Besides, as I remember, you didn't have any opium to sell, did you?"

"Eh, details. I did have a few colonies over there, you know. Ordering them to focus on poppies instead of spices would've been a cinch."

"Ah, yes, you sold Danish India to me, did you not?"

"Indeed. I sold the last to you in… eighteen hundred sixties? Eh, they were mostly abandoned anyway." He waved it off and focused on another object in the cabinet. "Oh! What about this? This isn't Asian, is it?"

"Denmark, lay off. I don't think England cares to indulge in your sick fascination with interior design."

"Aww, but Norwaaay," Denmark whined, pouting.

"It's quite alright," England interjected rising, bringing his half empty cup with him, as though he needed to take a look at the trinket Denmark had indicated to know what it was. He did so rarely get good excuses to talk about his past successes and he had specifically decorated this room to remind people of when the world had bowed to his whims.

Norway's lips twisted sourly before his face returned to neutral.

England hid a smile. Norway unsurprisingly didn't want to admit to his brilliance; it was normally disadvantageous when conducting negotiations to admit to a position of inferiority. Inferior nations whored out ideals and power in return for protection and influence.

"Ah, that," England exclaimed upon getting abreast of Denmark and having a look at the golden figurine the taller nation had been looking at. With his back turned, he quite missed Norway's brief smirk, quickly hidden in his tea cup. "Aztec. It's actually only coated in gold and is stone underneath or Spain would have melted it. I… acquired it from one of his vessels sometime in the seventeenth century."

Denmark grinned. "Ah, piracy. Good times. Do you have a count of how much gold you stole from Spain back then?" The grin turned roguish.

And England returned it in kind. "More than he stole from me."

The answer prompted a laugh from the Nordic and a hearty pat on the shoulder a little more forceful than was really necessary. "Good answer, man, good answer. Aw, man, don't you just miss the good, old days? I tell you, sometimes I want to declare war on Sweden just for the sake of reminiscing. Sometimes, I think the sentiment is returned." He laughed again, leaning casually against the cabinet. "Whatcha say, Norway? Wanna join back together and kick Sweden's ass?"

"The two of us together barely equal Sweden's population. Also, he's the leading exporter of weaponry in Europe; he'd kick your arse back to the fifteen hundreds."

"As long as it's back to before he left the Kalmar Union, I wouldn't mind. How about you, England? These days you can't wage war alone and Sweden's even one of those you've yet to invade, isn't he? Such a shame; you oughta try a sample of everyone, eh?"

The Brit snorted and drank down the last sip of his tea instead of dignifying such an unsightly proposition with a response; if he was really unlucky, the suggestion had been serious and that really was what they were angling for. He knew of nothing that Denmark or Sweden could have done to make hostilities flare up again so suddenly, but it was not impossible. Especially not with those two. "War is much too costly to partake in these days," he finally commented when it became obvious that some sort of verbal response from him was expected. Denmark was right about needing allies though. England lowered his cup and contemplated its depths. It was no use thinking about it immediately; no one was likely to go to war while the European Union still held but it would be a problem eventually. He had always had a very tight relationship with the Americas, but Canada was hardly reliable and a mutual protection act with America these days was only asking for trouble. And he had no close friends in Europe, not like the Nordics who had all always been thick as thieves.

Denmark heaved a sigh. "I know, right? The oil prizes have gone completely out of whack in the last decade, it's insane!" A pointed glance at Norway prompted no more than a raised eyebrow. Well, that was capitalism; supply and demand. And there was not a whole lot of supply these days. "I can supply my own electricity demands with wind energy and natural gas, but you can't power a fighter jet with that. And I really feel bad for you guys."

"'You guys'?"

"Well, you. And Germany and Sweden and, well, everyone whose energy demands are high enough that they need to buy oil for power plants."

"Is that so."

"Yeah. Must put a real wrench in your economy. People are so dependent on transport these days and even if most of them are in electrical cars by now, overprized fuel still makes it difficult for them to afford," he flailed, or gesticulated wildly it was difficult to tell with Denmark some days, "stuff."

"Stuff."

"Yeah, stuff! I mean, there're income taxes and all, but taxing stuff has always been awesome, and-.."

"Shut up, Denmark, you're rambling," Norway interrupted, glaring glacially.

"Right, uh, shutting up."

Interesting, England thought, preoccupying himself with pouring another cup while shooting discrete glances between the two Scandinavians. Denmark was sloppily (and loudly, ugh) drinking his tea while he avoided looking Norway in the eye while Norway's eyes were boring pointedly into the side of his face. Were Denmark not supposed to go there, maybe? He had pretty much been rambling the entire time, seemingly just saying whatever came to mind. Of course, that could not be trusted; Denmark doubtlessly had some sort of agenda bringing up the things he did but the question was what? He hadn't focused on the issue of allies but rather on the prices of fuel?

Deciding to back-track a little and see if Denmark would bring fuel prices up again, England took a sip of his perfectly prepared cuppa. "It certainly was easier back when the only fuel you needed to prepare for your army was provisions for soldiers and animals. Much simpler when you were guaranteed to be able to grow it in your backyard."

"Indeed," Norway nodded, delicately placing his empty cup in the saucer. "That, and modern media reporting only about victims and defeat."

"Yeah, totally. Win a battle and it becomes about only the soldiers lost instead of the ground you've gained. Like winning never mattered in the first place," Denmark mused, drumming a finger against his lips. "I dunno, guys. Seems like us oldies aren't much fit for modern times."

"Tch," England scoffed, frowning. "We're no humans to get existential crises, don't play daft now."

His answer was a bright, completely unapologetic smile, like Denmark cared naught for how his play at manipulation had failed. Actually, more like he hadn't been trying for manipulation at all, like he had just told a hilarious joke. Twit.

Norway rolled his eyes and sipped his tea and ignored his companion like only someone with long practise could. Denmark lifted his eyebrows pointedly, clearly trying to signal that Norway had the next move but this too was expertly ignored.

"On a more serious note," Denmark finally started when it became obvious Norway intended to keep quiet. "Now that NATO is dissolved, how long do you suppose it will take before the UN will become obsolete as well?"

That statement deserved a raised eyebrow and England obliged with both. That was a little more direct than anticipated. If, indeed, this was anywhere close to the heart of the matter. "Not long. Once the Union is dissolved as well it's just a matter of time before self-interests take over."

"On top of that, the tragedy of the Great Wars is also distanced in the hearts of the people," Norway interjected dispassionately.

England frowned while Denmark nodded passionately. True, the horror of trench warfare had been the biggest dissuader from war for a long time. Not to mention the idiotic concept of total war. The enormous loss of life in those two wars… an entire generation practically gone. Lost in the foul trenches.

No one had been keen on battle for a long time since, even those like Denmark with minimal losses.

Well, in Denmark's case it could be caused by his dependency on stability for trade. A stability they had, in truth, all enjoyed the fruits from. Logically, they should put in a lot more effort into holding the union together, keep the stability going.

But they were Europeans and the lack of autonomy the union afforded them was grating. It was a perfect example of leaders not knowing who they were governing, of self-interest overruling what would have been obvious to anyone else.

The question remained. "Who will be the one to put in the deathblow?"

Norway's eyebrow twitched.

"Hmm," Denmark mused aloud, contrarily not missing a beat. "You mean if it's not one of us? I think we've been the most vocal about our dissatisfaction with it, threatened the most times to leave and such. Maybe Spain, then? I don't think it's anyone from the old east bloc, they haven't enjoyed the benefits long enough and they might be so used to chains, these hardly grate on them." He shrugged carelessly, clearly not caring if his assumption was correct or not. "Italy could too, but Spain seems to have the more stable economy on his own right now."

England nodded, agreeing. "Austria's too small. And he's dependent on the countries around him who're all in the union as well. Greece…" He grimaced showing with all possible clarity what he thought of that particular nation. "If only the bugger would leave. France and Germany both enjoy too much power in the union to kill it on a whim but I'm surprised you didn't suggest Sweden."

"He could, too, obviously. He's as likely as you or I am, I suppose. No, he's more likely than I am. I can't afford to leave independently. I just, I dunno, included him in 'us' I suppose. Same with Finland. Finland actually has the added boon of possibly tightening trade relations with Russia." He grimaced at the possibility.

England frowned. It was true the Nordics, and the Scandinavians in particular, had an unusually close bond. There was a possibility that Denmark really had simply included his neighbours in his thoughts due to that. Still. It was unusual. And considering the recent events, there was likely more to it.

"Russia definitely doesn't need Finland encouraging him to increase his influence on Europe," Norway interjected calmly, ignoring the issue of Denmark mistakenly including their brethren. It only made England even more certain they had touched on the issue at an angle that was unintended. He carefully filed that titbit away, intent on bringing an alliance between the Nordics up later in the conversation.

"Russia's the type of person who will only stop when someone forces him to," he agreed, pretending to play along. "A war with him is always undesirable."

"Didn't we just agree war was too costly anyway?" Denmark asked, quirking a humorous eyebrow. Had he brought that up because he wanted to talk about fuel prices again or was he hinting that he thought England wanted to talk fuel prices? England steepled his fingers, thinking.

Why was it so damn difficult to guess what the Dane was thinking? Probably because he was always thinking of twenty things at once. That or he wasn't thinking at all.

"Energy prices are certainly dissuading any talk of war these days." He didn't miss the immediate change in the room, the atmosphere sharpening, like the air had suddenly become crisp. He hid a smirk in his teacup and realized it was still empty. Pursing his lips, he reached for the teapot, hoping the last drops had not already turned tepid.

"Oh? Do you mean there's someone you might want to fight?"

England paused, eyeing the tea he had just served himself in a bid to buy himself some time. That was not the direction he had expected. Though obviously he should have, really. Given that they had started out talking war, he should have seen that coming a mile off. It just didn't mesh with the current world situation at all. But then, why had they shied away from talk about a union with the other Nordics? Why not admit that their alliance was likely to do the trick?

"Is that what your alliance with the other Nordics is about? War?" He lifted his gaze from his cup, the tea had indeed turned cold, nailing his guests with an unimpressed stare.

They paused, gathering their thoughts for just a fraction of a second.

"It's more an alternative to NATO at this point," Norway finally admitted. It was the truth, the Scandinavian knew; until the union included Germany and the UK it could not feasibly function as a trade union as well. They needed the protection of the bigger and far mightier nations to secure it. Britain would be the biggest immediate threat in the first place, being placed so close to Iceland, not to mention his extensive naval fleet. "Even pooling all of our resources, we're unlikely to be able to take on anyone significant. Even counting in the fact that we're unlikely to be troubled by a lack of fuel, we simply do not have the manpower to partake in war without home ground advantage."

"I see." So, Norway still had faith his oil reserves would last. And it was true that aside from Denmark, while geographically covering a lot of ground, the Nordics were very sparsely populated.

But why were they speaking of war? It didn't add up.

"Are you likely to be attacked, then?"

"Of course," Denmark stated plainly, not shying away as expected. "Now that NATO is gone for good, Russia will want to move on the gate to the Baltic Sea again. Additionally, Norway's oil reserves are desirable for everyone and while Norway can be a bitch to fight, a country like, say, France, could overrun him in time."

Well, no one had ever claimed that the Scandinavians were shy of stating the plain truth. England also silently awarded him a few points for realising the Brit would have realised this himself and not fallen for a diversion.

"At least this way, we can guarantee that our costs in case of war will be minimal."

"How so?"

"Say I lock all export of oil, only providing what's necessary to my military and my allies."

Pressing his lips together in dismay just imagining such a scenario and the consequences, England took a moment to think. If Norway stopped selling oil to the world the price would sky rocket from one day to the other even more so than what a conflict like that would normally do. He could keep the fuel prices unnaturally low for his allies while their foe would have to contend with double, maybe triple the normal price. Silently, he decided that although France was not the only one able to overrun Scandinavia he had no desire to advance on Norway in such a situation, even if control of his vast fuel reserves were incredibly tempting.

A shrill tone interrupted the silence.

Denmark straightened, fishing out a mobile phone and checking the caller. "Sorry, I'm gonna have to take this." He fingered the touch screen and raised it to his ear already on his way to leave the room. "Heeey, Icey, 'sup?"

England eyed Norway, wondering if he was going to try and distract him so he couldn't listen in but was met with a perfect enigmatic smirk. So Norway was going to openly let him listen?

"Uh-huh, that was shorter than expected. So did they bite?"

Basically, they wanted some result from letting him listen and they were confident it would come regardless of letting him know of their intentions. That must be some trump.

"Excellent." England raised an eyebrow. Denmark sounded so deeply satisfied, almost purring into his phone, it was almost unnatural. "Yeah, yeah. See you later."

Or maybe they had let him listen because they didn't think he could glean anything at all from the conversation except that something was definitely going their way.

"Norway." Denmark had returned, smug like only he could manage. "They're in."

"I heard."

"Someone else joined your union I take it?" Were they expanding it beyond the Nordics? If they were looking for allies, was that why they were here? Well, that was interesting. He had never contemplated anyone coming to _him_ to suggest an alliance, especially not this early in the game. In truth, before the game had even begun.

"In a manner of speaking," Norway replied, offering a hand gesture like he was waving the matter away as unimportant. Which was inconsistent with letting him know in the first place. "The details are confidential for now," he then explained.

"So," Denmark started, going around the table to sit next to Norway once more. "What will you do when the European Union breaks apart?"

"Do?" A low note entered England's voice, warning the Scandinavian that he was entering dangerous territory. England already knew there was nothing to be done. He was pretty much universally hated, or at least not particularly liked, in Europe. He needed the assistance of a strong ally if nothing else then at least to dissuade France and Spain from attacking him the second they saw an opening. Even more so if they allied to accomplish it. Any ally England might contemplate had other countries they felt closer with, other nations out of the line of fire who would be happy to be their ally. Weak allies were useless; more burden than advantage. Besides, everyone would be aware that the United Kingdom was in this situation. They would know that he was, at best, low on options, at worst, desperate. Going begging for alliances as the former ruler of the world… that was just too humiliating and he refused to give concessions in return for just a measly alliance. Especially when he was the stronger one! Only the weak gave concessions. "I imagine you have some idea what I ought to do?"

"Well, of course. Or I wouldn't ask."

Infuriatingly, he didn't elaborate. "Well? Going to share or are you just faffing about?"

"England," Norway interceded while Denmark was still opening his mouth to reply. "We're in a somewhat delicate position," he stated, eye never wavering from the Brit. "This alliance includes more than just mutual protection. You understand that we can't just divulge all the details to someone who might end up not even being interested."

"I see. So there are reasons you think I might not be interested?" More than just mutual protection? Well, obviously or there would have been little reason for all the secrecy, but what exactly? Norway had already mentioned that he could provide any allies with raw oil, what more could there be? Something that would make more countries want to join according to that phone call, but who? If it was someone insignificant like the Baltics it hardly mattered, but if it was someone noteworthy…

Norway appeared to give that question some thought. England redirected his gaze to Denmark to judge if he was going to interject something in the pause. The Dane was smirking like he had already won but seemed quite satisfied to leave the conversation in Norway's hands. "No," Norway finally replied. "If you had been someone else, our offer might seem less favourable, but a good offer is just that. If you're not interested in an alliance with us in the first place, we're not interested in including you."

England pressed his lips together, taken aback by the aggressive move. The positions seemed to have changed with that phone call, they seemed to have taken a superior position in their negotiating.

Bugger all, he hated feeling superfluous. But they seemed sure that their offer was good and he did need an alliance.

"I won't lie to you, England, it would be very advantageous to us if you joined but we're not prepared to offer any better deals to persuade you."

"I see. What is it you think… someone else would find disadvantageous to your offer?"

Denmark and Norway exchanged a look and Denmark took up the conversation. "Once the EU dissolves, we're going to be a very tempting target especially to Russia. Also, that call, you know? That was Iceland reporting that Germany agreed to join."

Thick eyebrows shot up at the same time as England sucked in a quick breath. Germany. Cor blimey. That… What in the world did they have that could convince Germany and his brother to abandon the European Union? It had to be good. Neither brother was whimsical, however much Prussia liked to make that impression, and they were exceedingly practical. While England had much more particular, and yes, sometimes whimsical, ideas of who he allied himself to and why, Germany and Prussia would only be looking at cold facts.

"Okay, I'm interested," he finally admitted. "What are the terms?"

* * *

><p>Lets pretend it's not hella late please don't hurt me?<p>

**Random notes**: In Denmark (and I assume Norway), it's rude to arrive at other people's home on the dot or before; the ideal is a few minutes late however as much as 15 minutes is accepted. This rule, of course, only applies to informal occasions. In meetings and the like, you better not be late or people are going to be extremely cross. I've heard of someone coming 2 minutes late to find the door locked.

Most of the Australian territories received Responsible Governments in the 1850's however Western Australia didn't until 1890.

Forsooth = indeed with a twist of irony. What? I can have England using ancient, long-since out-dated words if I want to! It's an awesome word!

Opium wars in 1838-1840 and 1856-1860. In 1860 The Summer Palace in Xengde and the Old Summer Palace and the, uh, not old Summer Palace in Peking (now Beijing) were pillaged and destroyed by a mix of soldiers and civilians.

Denmark went bankrupt (again XD) in 1864 after our war with Prussia about Schleswig-Holstein. The 1800s really, -really- was not a good century for Denmark. (Went bankrupt twice, lost Norway, lost Schleswig-Holstein.) Oh, but we got our constitution. Yay. And after a nation-wide famine after the Second War of Schleswig-Holstein (the one we lost) we revolutionised our agriculture and now Denmark produces, like, much, much more then we could ever use)(good god, I'm rambling -_-; ). The 17th century wasn't good either; Denmark was defeated in the 30-years-war and later lost Scania to Sweden.

Norway is not currently the second biggest oil exporter, but the 5th. Things have happened in this 'verse to take out the others.[/spoiler]

When a nation declares total war, they're saying that their civilian population count as soldiers as well (basically). Civilians will fight like soldiers and resist strangers on their soil and such. But it also means that civilian populations can be targeted equally as military bases. WW2 is an excellent example of how that just means a lot more people will die without it really having any impact on the actual result. (Think of the German Blitz, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, find some pictures of Berlin upon the surrender or better yet, try Warsaw)


	6. The Default State

Yay! Another chapter! And so fast! How can you update so fast? my loyal followers ask? Well, I answer. This is ridiculously short. Sorry. Don't be mad. It's kind of pivotal and stuff

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><p>The United States of America stared unhappily out at the blurred cityscape through windows opaque with rain. Despondently, his eyes followed leaves being whipped around by the stubborn gale coming in from the sea, putting off his duties for just a few minutes. Two documents lay at his elbow, an original and its translation. He didn't need the translation, had been able to read Chinese for well over a century by now, but it was nevertheless customary to translate all foreign documents into English before he saw them. It was foolish, really. Just a way of establishing nationality, borders, to distinguish him from 'the foreigners'.<p>

Truly, he hated these reminders of the selfish, superior attitude of his government.

They, like the rest of the world, preferred to see him stupid. Blinded by ideals and his own power, ignorant about the so-called real world.

He knew their reasons too. They wanted power and a smart, educated country was difficult to manipulate, to control. They wanted him to believe they only ever wanted what was best for him.

Sometimes he believed them.

He knew he was anything but difficult to manipulate.

He knew he was naïve, knew he tended to see the best in everyone, predict the best possible outcome, knew he was foolhardy and rash.

But did he really have to throw all that out, all those things that made him _him_, just to exist in this world?

With a long, drawn-out sigh, the young man turned towards the stationary pc humming at the corner of his massive desk and began writing a letter to the United Nations' general secretary, adding the US of A's imminent bankruptcy to the topic to be discussed at the meeting starting on September 1st.

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><p>There it is~. Please review, it's like fuel to my creative juices!<p> 


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